The World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) has issued an optimistic outlook for the semiconductor industry, revising its 2024 predictions upward. The forecast anticipates a robust 19.0% growth compared to 2023 in the sector, with the global market value expected to reach US$627 billion. This positive adjustment is attributed to better-than-expected performances in the second quarter and the third quarter of 2023, especially within the computing sector.

Chinese semiconductor firm Tsinghua Unigroup's road to recovery faces new obstacles, as its two major stakeholders, Beijing Wise Road Asset Management (Wise Road Capital) and Beijing Jiangguang Asset Management (JAC Capital), are among the host of companies in China that found themselves on a trade restrictions list that the US has just released.

Tokyo Electron (TEL) has recently established a new operations center at the Southern Taiwan Science Park, expanding beyond its existing operational offices in Linkou, Hsinchu, Taichung, Tainan, and Kaohsiung.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has unveiled its latest innovation, the Trainium3 chip, featuring an advanced 3nm manufacturing process and scheduled for release in late 2025. The announcement event notably featured Apple's presence, highlighting the tech giant's significant reliance on AWS cloud services.

Fujifilm Electronic Materials Taiwan held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new facility in Hsinchu, northern Taiwan, on December 2. The event drew several prominent Fujifilm executives, including board members Tetsuya Iwasaki and Hiroshi Ito, Fujifilm Electronics Materials Taiwan chairman Kenichi Tanaka, and president Alex Chang.

According to industry sources, the surprise departure of Pat Gelsinger from Intel has somewhat piqued Chinese semiconductor firms' interest in the Entity List that the US has just announced.

ASM's Taiwanese subsidiary held an opening ceremony for its new office in Hsinchu, following similar moves by other global semiconductor equipment and materials suppliers including Fujifilm Electronics Materials Taiwan and Tokyo Electron. This cluster of upstream suppliers establishing their presence near Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) highlights the region's growing importance in the semiconductor supply chain.

Microchip Technology Inc. is pausing its application for US semiconductor subsidies, making it the first known company to step back from a program designed to revitalize American chipmaking.

Intel's CEO Pat Gelsinger's unexpected resignation has created new opportunities for the company to explore potential transaction options, including those previously rejected during his tenure.

The latest wave of export restrictions from the US on High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), particularly targeting advanced technologies such as HBM2 and above, is set to compel China's memory supply chain to expedite the development of core HBM technologies. As these regulations tighten, concerns arise within the memory supply chain regarding China's current investment in HBM, which remains at a nascent stage. Poor yield rates could further impact the circulation of secondary products like DDR5, leading to market price volatility.

The new US export restrictions on China do not include ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), which has sparked discussions among industry observers regarding how the key Chinese memory manufacturer is able to circumvent them.